Carton with pull-spout wall construction

ABSTRACT

A carton, and a blank therefor, with one wall constructed of two panels hinged together along a central or axial fold line to form a V-shaped infolded carton wall having a transverse fold line about which a portion of the wall can be hinged to form a pour spout construction. The V-shaped carton wall may also have a pull tab to facilitate actuation of the spout construction.

United States Patent Krzyzanowski 51 June 27, 1972 [54] CARTON WITH PULL-SPOUT WALL 3,083,890 4/1963 Ingell "229/17 CONSTRUCTION 3,31s,sos 5/1967 Buttery.. ...229/51 RC I 3,309,005 3/1967 Pilger ..229/ 17 [721 lnvemofl Robe" Knylanowski, Mllwaukee, W 2,400,716 5/1946 Settler ..229/l76 ux [73] Assignee: Mllprint, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis.

Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance [22] F1led: March 2, 1970 Assistant Examiner-Stephen Marcus [21 1 App]. No 15,610 Attorney-Donald G. Casser and Adrian L. Bateman, Jr.

- [57] ABSTRACT '8" & a g;; h%%; 3 A carton, and a blank therefor, with one wall constructed of 58] Field G 7 R 5 51 TC two panels hinged together along a central or axial fold line to form a V-shaped infolded carton wall having a transverse fold line about which a portion of the wall can be hinged to form a pour spout construction. The V-shaped carton wall may also [56] References Cited have a pull tab to facilitate actuation of the spout construc- UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,074,610 l/1963 Pugh ..229/l 7 G 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED Jim 2 7 I972 SHEET IN 2 INVENTOR ROIEHT A. KRZYZANOWSKI ATTORNEY SHEET 2 0F 2 INVENTOR ROBERT A.KRZYZANOWSK| ATTORNEY CARTON WITH PULL-SPOUT WALL CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field This invention relates to cartons of the type having wall panels adapted to form a pour spout.

2. Prior Art The typical prior art carton with a pour spout construction requires either complex die-cutting to form the panels required for the pour spout, unique and non-standard panel gluing procedures, or a combination of both. The usual pour spout carton constructions often fail to provide effective reclosure of the carton when only part of the packaged contents is used. An additional disadvantage of many known cartons of this type is that they have often required a clumsy opening procedure.

Difficulties such as the foregoing, e.g., in manufacture, in setup procedure and lack of effective reclosure, have inhibited the use of pour spout carton constructions in many packaging applications in which they would be useful and convenient, for example, packaging of cereals, candies, dry foods, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My present invention provides a carton with a novel pour spout panel construction that is of relatively uncomplicated structure and which can be assembled by gluing operations customary for the erection of rectangular cartons; further, my new pour spout construction is convenient to use and provides excellent reclosure of the carton for protection of any remaining contents.

Briefly, the carton of my invention has one of the carton walls, preferably an end wall, formed of two panels which articulate about an axial fold line along the center of the wall and which form an infolded V-shaped wall when the carton is assembled. A transverse fold line is formed across both of the panels at an intermediate point thereof and a section of the V- shaped wall is movable about the transverse fold line to form the pour spout. A pull tab means may be provided to facilitate movement of the pour spout. Additional panels can be provided to hold the V-shaped carton wall in its normal position and which become severed when the pour spout is formed so as to thereby open the carton. After the user has poured out the desired portion of the packaged material, the carton wall can be returned to its normal position and its V-shaped structure serves to effectively reclose the carton until its next required use.

Some of the main objects of my invention are to provide a pour spout construction which does not require unusual structural panels or atypical assembly procedures, to provide a pour spout that is easy to open, and to devise a pour spout that gives effective reclosure of the carton. A more specific object is to provide the particular carton and carton blank constructions hereinafter specifically claimed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A presently preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings which are meant to illustrate, not limit, the invention inasmuch as it is anticipated that changes can be made in the illustrated embodiment and will be suggested in the present description that will be within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank for erection into a carton of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carton erected from the blank ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the carton of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows the erected carton of FIG. 2 in its first stage of being opened; and

FIG. 5 shows the second stage in which an end wall is formed into a pour spout in accordance with this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates a carton blank 1 constructed in accordance with the present invention which includes a rectangular central major portion that is divided by spaced parallel horizontal (speaking with reference to the presentation of FIG. 1) fold lines 2 and 3 and spaced vertical fold lines 4, 5 and 6, in which fold lined 5 and 6 extend only between fold lines 2 and 3. The fold lines 2-6 divide the carton blank into the following panels: side walls 10 and 11, end wall panels. 12 and 13, top closure flaps l4 and 15 hinged respectively to side walls 10 and 11, top closure flap panels 16 and I7 hinged respectively to end wall panels 12 and 13, bottom closure flaps l8 and 19 hinged respectively to side walls 10 and 11 and bottom closure flap panels 20 and 21 hinged to end wall panels 12 and 13 respectively. The foregoing is familiar to the carton art and the present invention resides in the construction and arrangement of the flap structure attached to the outer edges of side walls 10 and 11 as described below.

End wall panel 25 is hinged to one edge of side wall 10 along fold line 26 and is divided into an upper section 27 and lower section 28 along a fold line 29 which is fonned obliquely across the end wall panel 25. An extension flap 30 is joined to the outer edge of end wall panel 25 along a fold line 31 and has its lower edge slanted at the same angle as fold line 29. A triangular shaped closure flap 35 is connected to the bottom of the end wall panel 25 along fold lines 36 formed as an extension of fold line 3, and a triangular closure flap 37 is connected to the top of end wall panel 25 by means of a perforated line 38 formed as an extension of horizontal fold line 2.

The opposite side of the carton blank has a flap structure similar to that described above but connected to side wall 1 I. This includes end wall panel connected to side wall 11 about fold line 46, the end wall panel being divided into upper section 47 and lower section 48 along a fold line 49 which extends obliquely across the end wall panel in the manner shown in the drawing. A glue flap 50 is joined to the outer edge of the end wall panel 45 along a fold line 51; the glue flap 50 is divided into upper section 52 and lower section 53 by an oblique perforated line 54, the section 52 corresponding in size and shape to the flap 30 connected to end wall panel 25. A triangular closure flap 55 is joined to the bottom of panel 45 along fold line 56 which is an extension of fold line 3 and a triangular flap 57 is joined to the top of panel 45 along a perforated line 58 formed as an extension of horizontal fold line 2. The end wall panels 25 and 45 are wider than the end wall panels 12 and 13 for the purpose discussed below.

The carton blank 1 may be formed of any suitable carton material, such as paperboard, cardboard, or other foldable sheet material including plastics; the material may be uncoated or can include functional coatings such as heat-seal coatings and barrier coatings, as well as other coatings of general use in the carton art. The various fold lines are formed by any suitable creasing or scoring mechanism which will define a line about which the various flaps and panels can be folded or articulated. Perforated lines can be die-cut by suitable mechanisms and may comprise a group of spaced slits or a series of perforations, or other configuration, as long as they form a weakened line or zone along which the respective flaps can be separated.

The carton blank 1 is advantageously supplied to the user as a flattened sleeve in which the blank is folded about the central vertical fold line 4 so that the two halves of the blank overlie one another, after which the glue flap 50 is folded over the adjoining portion of end wall panel 25, the flap 30 is folded about fold line 31 to be positioned under the glue flap, and the upper section 52 of the glue flap is then glued to the panel 31 underlying it while the lower section 53 of the glue flap is glued to the underlying portion of the end wall panel 25. The vertical fold line 4 can be omitted if the blank is to be supplied flat.

The erected carton is illustrating in FIG. 2 and comprises a generally rectangular container body comprising side walls and 1 1- connected along one end by the end wall formed by the panels 12 and 13. The bottom is closed by first folding the triangular flaps 35 and 55 inwardly across one open end of the carton, folding the flaps 20 and 21 over the opposite open end, and gluing all four such flaps to the inner surface of bottom closure flap 18 after the latter is folded over the opening, following which the bottom closure flap I9 is folded over and glued to flap 18. The upper end of the carton is closed in a similar manner upon folding triangular flaps 37 and 57 and closure flaps l6 and 17 across the ends of the top, gluing them to the underside of closure flap l4 and thereafter folding top closure flap over the top of the carton and gluing it to the underlying flap 14. The erected carton is thereby held in a stable condition and it will be noted from FIG. 2 that the end wall panels 25 and 45 combine to form an infolded V-shaped carton wall which is held in position by the attachment of triangular flaps 35, 37, 55 and 57 to the respective closure flaps hinged to the other wall panels. Also when in the assembled condition, the fold line 51 of the end wall panel 45 overlies and is in registry with the fold line 31 of the panel 25 so that the two combine to form an axial fold line extending across the carton wall formed by the panels 25 and 45 from the top to the bottom of the carton.

The glue flap 50 overlies a portion of end wall panel 25 as shown in FIG. 2 by reason of its adhesive attachment to flap 30 and adhesive attachment of its lower section 53 to an underlying marginal portion of lower section 28 of end wall panel 25. The fold lines 29 and 49 cooperate to form a transverse fold line extending across the V-shaped wallpanel in the form of an inverted V-shaped fold line with its apex positioned along the axial fold line 51 pointing toward the top of the carton and with its ends terminating at the outer edge of each wall panel. The tear lines 54 formed across glue flap 50 overlies and is in registry with a portion of the fold line 29 in the assembledcondition.

The sectional view of FIG. 3 further illustrates the relationship of the several panels in the erected carton and the attachment of glue flap 50 to end wall panel 25 is clearly visible, together with the manner in which the triangular flaps 35 and 55 and closure flaps and 21 are folded over opposite ends of the bottom of the carton and joined to the interior surface of the bottom closure flap 18. At the top of the carton, not visible in this drawing, the triangular flaps 37 and 57 and closure flaps l6 and 17 will be arranged ina similar fashion relative to the top closure flap 14.

FIG. 4 illustrates the first stage of opening the assembled carton after it has been filled with any desired material. The

user first severs the upper section 52 of the glue flap and the flap 30 joined to it by severing the glue flap along the perforated line 54. The panels 52 and 30 form a pull tab construction after severance along the perforated line 54, and the two combined panels are folded about the upper section of fold line 51 and fold line 31 to the position illustrated in FIG. 4 and shown in dotted line in FIG. 3. Next, the user pulls outwardly on the handle or tab formed by the sections 52 and 30 to achieve the stage shown in FIG. 5, during which movement the perforated lines 38 and 58 connecting the end wall panels and 45, respectively, to the triangular flaps 37 and 57 sever and the triangular flaps remain attached to the closure flap 14 because of their adhesive joinder thereto. This allows the user to pull the upper section of the end wall panels comprising upper sections 27 and 47 of end wall panels 25 and 45 outwardly and these panels articulate about the oblique fold lines 29 and 49 to form a pour spout as illustrated in FIG. 5. Because the triangular flaps 35 and 55 at the bottom of the carton are adhered to the closure fiap 18 as described above, the lower sections 28 and 48 of the end panels 25 and 45 remain approximately in their original position except for the flexure or bending of their portions near the fold lines 29 and 49.

Once the carton is in the condition of FIG. 5, the user is able to tilt it and pour all or a portion of its contents through the pour spout in the usual manner. The contents packaged in the carton may be contained inside the carton or packaged in a 5 pouch or liner carried inside the carton, in which instance the inner bag may have to be opened.

If the user decides to use only a portion of the contents of the carton, the pour spout is returned to the position illustrated in FIG.'4 to reclose the carton and protect the remaining contents. Because the carton wall formed by the end wall panels 25 and 45 is a V-shape extending into the carton, it has been found that the stiffness of the usual carton material will cause the pour spout to snap back into its closed condition of FIG. 4 and remain therein in such manner as to provide highly efiective closure of the carton. This feature enables the pour spout carton of this invention to achieve a useful reclosure action not normally obtainable with prior art cartons having other types of pour spout constructions. In the case where the sealed container, the triangular flaps 37 and 57 can be omitted from the construction and the closure obtained by the inwardly folded end carton wall construction will provide for satisfactory closure of the carton.

There has thus been described a carton according to the present invention and a blank therefor, comprising a container having at least one carton wall formed from a pair of panels arranged to define an infolded V-shaped wall having an axial fold line and a transverse fold line, so that a section of each panel can be moved or articulated about the transverse fold line to form a pour spout. The pour spout configuration further includes a pull tab arrangement adapted to form a handle by which the user can open and actuate the spout panels by merely pulling on the tab construction. The gluing operations for erection of the carton are readily accomplished by the usual converting operations. The carton of this invention is suitable for the packaging of a wide variety of materials, both food and non-food items, such as cereal, fruit, soap powder and detergent, candies, granular products in general, and other types of goods which can be advantageously packaged in a carton having a spout means by which the material can be poured from the carton.

lclaim:

define a container body, the improvement wherein:

one of the carton walls is formed of first and second end wall panels joined together along an axial fold line, which extends the length of the panel, the wall panels being positioned to form an infolded V-shaped carton wall; and

a transverse fold line extends across the axial fold line and across the first and second end wall panels so that a section of each panel may be hinged from their infolded position to a second position in which they extend beyond adjoining carton walls to form a pour spout; and pull tab means attached to the first and second end wall panels, formed by l. a glue flap hinged to the first end wall panel and extending the full length thereof, and a weakened line formed obliquely across the glue flap to divide it into first and second sections, and being in registry with a portion of the transverse fold line,

2. an extension flap hinged to the second end end wall panel and having the same shape as the first section of the glue flap;

the glue flap and the extension flap being positioned along said axial fold line and adapted to provide handle means for movement of the pour spout to its second position.

2. In a carton having a plurality of carton walls arranged to define a container body, the improvement wherein:

one of the carton walls is formed of first and second wall panels joined together along an axial fold line, the wall panels being positioned to form an infolded V-shaped carton wall;

goods packaged in the carton do not require a completely 1. In a carton having a plurality of carton walls arranged to for joinder to closure flaps connected to other carton walls, and said end closure being adapted for severance along said weakened lines upon first movement of the V- shaped carton wall to form the pour spout. 3. A carton according to claim 1, further including: a triangular end closure flap connected to each end of the first and second end wall panels along a weakened line.

i l I l 

1. In a carton having a plurality of carton walls arranged to define a container body, the improvement wherein: one of the carton walls is formed of first and second end wall panels joined together along an axial fold line, which extends the length of the panel, the wall panels being positioned to form an infolded V-shaped carton wall; and a transverse fold line extends across the axial fold line and across the first and second end wall panels so that a section of eaCh panel may be hinged from their infolded position to a second position in which they extend beyond adjoining carton walls to form a pour spout; and pull tab means attached to the first and second end wall panels, formed by
 1. a glue flap hinged to the first end wall panel and extending the full length thereof, and a weakened line formed obliquely across the glue flap to divide it into first and second sections, and being in registry with a portion of the transverse fold line,
 2. an extension flap hinged to the second end end wall panel and having the same shape as the first section of the glue flap; the glue flap and the extension flap being positioned along said axial fold line and adapted to provide handle means for movement of the pour spout to its second position.
 2. an extension flap hinged to the second end end wall panel and having the same shape as the first section of the glue flap; the glue flap and the extension flap being positioned along said axial fold line and adapted to provide handle means for movement of the pour spout to its second position.
 2. In a carton having a plurality of carton walls arranged to define a container body, the improvement wherein: one of the carton walls is formed of first and second wall panels joined together along an axial fold line, the wall panels being positioned to form an infolded V-shaped carton wall; a transverse fold line extends across the first and second wall panels so that a section of each panel may be hinged from their infolded position to a second position in which they extend beyond adjoining carton walls to form a pour spout; and an end closure flap joined to each end of the first and second wall panels along a weakened line, said closure flaps extending across the ends of the carton and adapted for joinder to closure flaps connected to other carton walls, and said end closure being adapted for severance along said weakened lines upon first movement of the V-shaped carton wall to form the pour spout.
 3. A carton according to claim 1, further including: a triangular end closure flap connected to each end of the first and second end wall panels along a weakened line. 